MetaFilter posts tagged with birdflu

Real-Time Global Bad News Map

fenriq — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 22:14:46 -0800

The Global Trouble AlertMap
Are you curious about that chemical spill in Minnesota? Or how about the bio hazard situation in Honduras? The Havaria Information Systems AlertMap is updated in (near) real-time and the wealth of bad news is fairly astonishing. Plus they've got RSS feeds for whatever bad (or locationally relevant) news you want delivered. There are USA only maps, Europe only maps and Hungary too (slow day, just a fire). Previously (focused on bird flu tracking though several comments note how freakin' cool the map is)

Bird flu spreads in Asia, jump in cases

Quiplash — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:17:52 -0800

No need to panic, but perhaps there's a need to stay on top of the still-evolving H5N1 (bird flu) situation. "Infections in birds and people are increasing, particularly in Asia, where the virus was first identified a decade ago. Viet Nam, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Nigeria reported diseased birds in the past month, while Indonesia, China and Egypt found new human cases." (quote from International Society for Infectious Diseases report, Feb. 16, 2007).

If keeping track via FluWiki or the many discussion groups isn't your thing, you could just check for the the flashing red chickens every so often :-)

Heard about the cat with Bubonic Plague in Flagstaff?

If I Had An Anus — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 07:41:14 -0800

The RSOE Global Disasters Service tracks seismic activity, bird flu, chemical spills and even vehicle accidents by monitoring and processing data of approximately 600-700 news sources, many researching institutes and realtime data of forecasting services. I've subscribed to the RSS feed and you should too . . . you've been getting too much sleep anyway. [via]

Bright Birds That Eternally Flu

salvia — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 13:46:21 -0800

Bird flu update: "At this moment, birds that travel flyways in Asia, where most bird flu cases have been found, are mingling with birds that fly through North America." Officials in Kansas and Ohio warn it will arrive this fall, as those birds fly south for the winter on North American migration pathways. The Onion jokingly predicts the government's response.

Worried how Bird Flu will affect your portfolio?

pwb503 — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 13:15:10 -0800

We've been talking about bird flu here in the blue and in the green for a while. Now to help us answer the question eveyone is asking, Citigroup and Smith Barney bring us the Global Portfolio Strategist: Avian Flu [pdf].

At Least Hobbes Will Be Happy.

ewagoner — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:23:58 -0800

The bird flu is coming, and Secretary of Health and Human Services wants us to be ready. How? By storing canned tuna and powdered milk under our beds.

Bye bye birdie?

lupus_yonderboy — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:38:28 -0800

University of Pittsburgh scientists say they've genetically engineered an avian flu vaccine that has proven 100 percent effective in mice and chickens. Let's hope this is for real and we can go back to worrying about global warming and the American police-state.

Don't fear the (bird) reaper

docgonzo — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:28:18 -0800

Evolutionary biologist Paul Ewald, author of The evolution of infectious disease and an expert on the development of pathogen virulence (see this, this and this for a good intro), responds to this editorial in Scientific American and pours cold water on fears of pandemic influenza.

Bird flu

jeffburdges — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 09:11:25 -0800

What is really going o n ?

Bye Bye Birdie

Asparagirl — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 02:19:39 -0800

Over the past month, people in Qinghai province, China have been reporting that migratory birds in the mostly-rural region were dropping dead of an unknown disease, later diagnosed as a few hundred cases of "an isolated case" [sic] of influenza strain H5N1, a.k.a. bird flu. Three weeks later, the Chinese government admitted that actually about a thousand birds had died of bird flu in the province. Now there are reports saying that at least 8,000 animals--not just birds--have died from the flu, including not only breeds of fowl not previously known to be affected by the virus, but non-avian species, too.

Every national park and bird sanctuary in China has been closed for weeks, since the first reports surfaced of an outbreak. But today, disturbing photos started appearing on Chinese language news websites, supposedly taken at the closed Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve. They appear to show thousands of dead birds (warning, disturbing images - Engrish version via Babelfish here) on the island in the middle of Qinghai Lake, China's largest saltwater lake and a rest-stop for migratory birds from all across southeast Asia. Nervous pandemic-watchers are debating whether the photos are real or doctored, but compared to previous photos of the once-lively birding spot, something definitely seems to be wrong.
[ much more inside >> ]

Fears growing that an H5 pandemic is likely

spock — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 17:49:00 -0800

"Fears growing that an H5 pandemic is likely" A followup to 37271 (Dec. 2004) - “It appears this virus is progressively adapting to an increasing range of mammals in which it can cause infection, and the range of disease in human beings is wide and clearly includes encephalitis.” The New England Journal of Medicine says "These cases suggest that the spectrum of influenza H5N1 is wider than previously thought." The WHO is encouraging the stockpiling of bird flu vaccines now. There is concern in Britain that they are not moving fast enough.

Bring out your dead!

Meridian — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 04:00:54 -0800

Up to 100 million dead within weeks. A pandemic of biblical proportions according to the latest World Health Organization warning about the bird flu virus H5N1. It is so lethal that it kills most people it infects. Some experts are even warning that the WHO are being too conservative and that a death toll of 1 billion could be expected.

Anthrax, schmanthrax.

ptermit — Thu, 20 Feb 2003 13:05:06 -0800

The bird flu is back. Despite denials by the Hong Kong government, the World Health Organization announced yesterday that two people were killed by the same virulent species-jumpingstrain of influenza that caused the 1997 panic. It's certainly less gruesome than the ebola outbreak going on in Congo right now, but, unlike ebola, the flu is highly contagious. [more inside]